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Down syndrome is a genetic alteration that occurs in humans for different causes and is a frequent congenital condition. Most diseases that affect humans are not unique to the human species, in fact, on many occasions it is possible to come across animals with pathologies that affect people as well. Some pathologies that are associated with the aging process or decreased immune system capacity in humans have the same causes and associations in animals.
This brings you to the following question, are there animals with Down syndrome? If you want to know if animals can have Down syndrome or not, keep reading this PeritoAnimal article to clarify this doubt.
What is Down Syndrome?
In order to adequately clarify this issue, it is first important to know what this pathology is and what mechanisms cause it to appear in human beings.
Human genetic information is contained in chromosomes, chromosomes are structures formed by DNA and proteins with a very high level of organization, which contain the genetic sequence and therefore determine to a large extent the nature of the organism and in many occasions the pathologies that this one presents.
The human being has 23 pairs of chromosomes and Down Syndrome is a pathology that has a genetic cause, since people affected by this pathology have an extra copy of chromosome 21, which instead of being a pair, are three. This situation that gives rise to Down Syndrome is medically known as trisomy 21.
It is genetic alteration is responsible for the physical traits we observe in people affected by Down syndrome and who are accompanied by a some degree of cognitive impairment and changes in growth and muscle tissue, in addition, Down's Syndrome is also associated with a higher risk of suffering other diseases.
Animals with Down Syndrome: is it possible?
In the case of Down syndrome, it is a uniquely human disease, since the chromosomal organization of human beings is different from that of animals.
However, it is obvious that animals also have certain genetic information with a specific sequence, in fact, gorillas have DNA that is equal to human DNA in a percentage of 97-98%.
Since animals have genetic sequences also ordered in chromosomes (the pairs of chromosomes depend on each species), they can suffer trisomies of some chromosome and these translate into cognitive and physiological difficulties, as well as anatomical changes that give them a state characteristic.
This happens, for example, in the lab rats that have a trisomy on chromosome 16. To conclude this question, we should stick to the following statement: animals can suffer genetic alterations and trisomies on some chromosome, but It is NOT possible to have animals with Down Syndrome, as it is an exclusively human disease and caused by a trisomy on chromosome 21.
If you are interested in continuing to learn more about the animal world, also check out our article that answers the question: Do animals laugh?
